Zacks Investment Research Reduced IHS Markit (INFO) to Sell

Zacks Investment Research cut shares of IHS Markit (NASDAQ:INFO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

According to Zacks, “IHS Markit witnesses escalation in its costs, which are related to acquisition related. The company's business experiences event driven seasoality. Seasonality causes considerable fluctuations in revenues and profits, thus making prediction difficult. We are also concerned about the company's high debt levels as it may limit the company’s future expansion and worsen its risk profile. Despite such negatives, the company is benefiting from well-diversified global customer base and solid brand recognition. Its business model ensures strong recurring revenue generation capacity, cash generation capacity and low capital requirement. Moreover, acquisitions act as key growth catalysts for IHS Markit. The stock has outperformed the industry in a year’s time.”

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $45.00 target price on shares of IHS Markit and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of IHS Markit from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 8th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of IHS Markit from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, December 15th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of IHS Markit in a research note on Friday, December 7th. They issued an outperform rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of IHS Markit in a research note on Tuesday, October 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $58.33.

Shares of INFO opened at $49.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. IHS Markit has a 1-year low of $43.07 and a 1-year high of $55.99.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in shares of IHS Markit by 56.1% in the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 2,705 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of IHS Markit by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 75,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 5,698 shares during the last quarter. Federated Investors Inc. PA grew its holdings in shares of IHS Markit by 230.0% in the third quarter. Federated Investors Inc. PA now owns 1,217,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $65,721,000 after purchasing an additional 848,915 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of IHS Markit in the third quarter worth approximately $2,565,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of IHS Markit in the third quarter worth approximately $523,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.